Netflix's Orange Is the New Black could be primed to win Best Drama Series at the Emmys - assuming it gets nominated.

How New Emmy Ruling May Help Stars Of 'Orange Is the New Black'

Orange Is the New Black was ruled a drama series by a Television Academy panel last week. This means it will have to compete in all the Drama categories at the Emmys this year as opposed to the Comedy categories, which they did for season 1 last year.

While the ruling may help or hurt certain actors on the prison dramedy, the show itself may just benefit from the genre change.

Uzo Aduba 'Focused Madly' On One Aspect Of Suzanne for 'Orange Is the New Black'

Orange Is the New Black did very well at the Emmys last year, with a nomination for Best Comedy Series and individual nods for five of its actresses, in addition to many more. However, the show mostly went home empty-handed, with Uzo Aduba's trophy for Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series being the only big award they received.

The Emmys trend towards traditional comedy when it comes to the Comedy categories, with only one one-hour "dramedy" taking home the trophy for Best Comedy Series in Emmy history: Fox's Ally McBeal. Over the past five years the award has gone to ABC's Modern Family, with no other show able to defeat it.

Since Orange Is the New Black has a more dramatic tilt compared to other shows in the Comedy categories, the show may actually flourish over in Drama instead.

Assuming OITNB is nominated, it will likely go up against Best Drama Series staples like AMC's Mad Men, PBS's Downton Abbey, HBO's Game of Thrones and their fellow Netflix juggernaut House of Cards. While this is heavy competition, the show actually does have a shot at taking home the trophy.

With AMC's Breaking Bad now gone, there is no real frontrunner in Best Drama Series at the moment. OITNB is a relatively new show compared to the other potential nominees and voters may wish to reward newer blood rather than shows in their fifth or seventh seasons.

However, one thing that may stop Orange Is the New Black from winning, ironically, is if some voters think it's too light compared to the rest of the competition. Best Drama Series often goes to heavy-hitting dramas like Mad Men, Breaking Bad and HBO's The Sopranos, which are all darker that OITNB.

It remains to be seen if Orange Is the New Black will be nominated for Best Drama Series and potentially go on to win the big category, but as it stands now, it looks to have a real shot at it.

Orange Is the New Black season 3 will be released on Friday, June 12 on Netflix.

Tags: Orange is the New Black television netflix